Writers Respond to “There Is a Mirror in My Heart: Reflections on a Righteous Grandfather”

by Erika Dreifus on
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Uncharacteristically, my mother and I arrived a few minutes late. We missed the introductory remarks, but we managed to find two empty seats together in the large room that was filled with listeners who had gathered Monday evening at the Yeshiva University Museum/Center for Jewish History to hear poets present original writings in dialogue with an exhibition titled “There is a Mirror in My Heart: Reflections on a Righteous Grandfather.”

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Notes from Around the Web: Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled
  • Looking for some book suggestions? Check out these reviews from the spring issue of Jewish Book World. (Ahem, does one of those books look especially familiar???)
  • If you’re interested in writing Jewish-themed children’s books, you’ll want to take a look at this workshop offering.
  • Remember when I told you about The Forward‘s poetry contest commemorating the centenary of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire? Here’s the winning poem in English. (And here is a special section from The Forward presenting translations of coverage from 100 years ago.)
  • Josh Lambert’s latest books column for Tablet features a number of Italy-themed offerings. (And why not?)
  • Continuing with Italy: This week, I happened to discover Janna Malamud Smith’s striking essay, “An Italian Tragedy.” Smith’s father was Bernard Malamud; her mother was the daughter of Neapolitan immigrants.
  • In my previous life as a student and teacher of 20th-century French history, I would have been sure to attend next week’s event at Columbia University, a conference at the Maison Française on “The Rescue of Jews in France and its Empire during World War II.” The conference is free and open to the public, and it will feature evening film screenings by Pierre Sauvage, whose work I’ve mentioned on this blog before.
  • This Tablet story is the kind of thing I read and immediately begin envisioning as a work of fiction. I seem to be drawn to moral quandaries that confront families.
  • And speaking of families, here’s a glimpse of my niece’s Purim costume. (Of course, when R. first told me that she’d be dressing up as “Three Musketeers,” Aunt-Erika-the-Author imagined a more literary outfit.)

    • Shabbat shalom, everyone, and Chag Purim!

    Jewish Book Carnival: March Edition

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    It’s the 15th of the month, and you know what that means!

    Another convocation of the Jewish Book Carnival!

    This month, the Carnival is hosted over on Linda K. Wertheimer’s wonderful Jewish Muse blog. Go on over and take a look at the links Linda has collected there. Dani Shapiro, Anita Diamant, and many others taking part. I’m looking forward to perusing everything more leisurely when I’m not at work (and not trying to squeeze too much–like drafting this post–into my lunch hour!).

    Words of the Week: Cynthia (“Shoshana”) Ozick

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    Last Wednesday, Cynthia Ozick received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jewish Book Council. These words are taken from “Shoshana” Ozick’s acceptance speech:

    The inmost structure of a Jewish writer will carry the history of a long, long procession of Jewish ideas and experiences — and this will hold whether the writer wishes to abandon or cultivate those ideas and experiences. In either case, they must be grappled with.

    I recommend the entire speech. Do read it.